Nintendo Switch Hands On: Weird Like Only Nintendo Can Be

The Nintendo Switch is more than the sum of its parts. The bits and pieces aren't necessarily new—other gadgets have gone modular before, and the whole thing looks a lot like a Wii U gamepad. But no one has ever managed to cram all those parts into one cohesive package quite like this. The result is that the Nintendo Switch is a weird console, mostly in good ways. But its strange, transforming nature may make it a harder sell for anyone who isn't 100 percent sold at the mere mention of Nintendo.

The Nintendo Switch is available on March 3 in the U.S., starting at $300. It's subscription-based streaming service will be available later in the fall.

Design

Unlike the Wii and Wii U which always felt a little flimsy to me, the Switch feels solidly built, and good thing too, since you are meant to hold this in your hands a lot of the time. It's also especially impressive considering all the console's moving parts; I was worried the slide-off controllers might feel a little loose and wiggly, but they feel secure and terrific.

Instead of glossy plastic, the Switch has a matte finish like Nintendo's newer 3DS. The controller—also known as the "joycon" ugh—effortlessly disconnects from the base, making it simple to dock and play or immediately take it on the go.

Switch in mobile config, playing 'Has-Been Heroes.'

Unless you go for the multi-colored controls, the Switch is black-on-black. In fact, there's no other color than black—and various shades of gray—on the entire base model. Just the green light telling you it's on and ready to go.

When it comes to actually playing the dang thing, the Switch offers a wealth of options. First is with the controls on either side of the screen, like a Wii U controller. This feels fine, but I actually prefer to slip them off, and hold them separately with one in each hand, as if I were double-fisting traditional Wii controllers. It's funny because I actually hated doing that with the actual Wii, where I was a fan of the "Pro" controllers, which are more in the design of a typical dual-joystick Playstation or Xbox controller.

If that more traditional controller scheme is your fancy though, the Switch has a solution for that too. It's a handheld holster that basically allows you to snap the two independent controller halves to each other instead of attaching them to either side of the screen. This is...not so hot. In the other control modes, the Switch is so different that playing it feels a little strange, but not wrong. When transformed into something that's like an Xbox or PlayStation controller though, you suddenly realize that the button spacing and joystick tension isn't quite as fine-tuned as it feels like it ought to be compared to the competition. It just highlights the Switch's weaknesses. I might be able to get used to it, but at first blush it just didn't feel great. Luckily, if you feel the same way, Nintendo is selling a Switch Pro controller separately.

All of that is to say nothing of the docking, arguably the most important part of this entire design. It works like this: When the controllers are bolted to either side of the Switch's screen, the Switch is in mobile mode. When the controllers are anywhere else—one in each hand or snapped together in the Pro-controller-esque holster—the Switch can just sit on your table, or plug into the actual dock that lives your home and beam the game up to your big TV. Docking and undocking is very simple—and most importantly—quick. When undocking the controller, the game migrates from your TV to the capacitive 720p screen nearly instantaneously. When you dock the device, the transition takes a few seconds going the other way, but Nintendo says this speed depends mostly on your HDMI cable. But you probably need to walk over to the couch anyway.

When undocked, the controller reportedly gets around 2 to 6 hours of battery life, depending on how intense the game is. Two hours is disappointedly low, especially since Nintendo is angling the Switch to be the absolute greatest flight companion you could ever imagine. But on the six-hour end, you could at least fly coast-to-coast on a single charge.

I only had a few minutes with the device, but one thing immediately jumped out to me as a potential annoyance. Games don't automatically pause if you undock or reconfigure the controller, so as I was demoing games like the upcoming Disgaea 5 and Has-Been Heroes, accidental presses as I was fumbling with the controller almost killed my characters—multiple times. But for the most part, the Switch really knocks it out of the park when it comes to design.

Launch lineup

Although I've only tested a handful of demoes at Nintendo's well-manicured NYC event, it is impressive how many different kinds of games the Switch has to offer at launch. Games like Arms, best described as a boxing/shooting game, borrows from the legacy of the Wii and Nintendo's drive to create games where your body is the controller. Others like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild are more traditional, controller-based games that look great and run well.

However, it's clear Nintendo is totally comfortable playing second fiddle when it comes to graphics power and resolution. Games on the Switch look great—and in 2017, they better—but the plucky little handheld is clearly not packing nearly as much power as the new Xbox One or the PS4, and nowhere near what you'll find in a typical gaming PC. But that's a deficiency that Nintendo is aware of, and its slate of games that offer stylized graphics and unique gameplay does a good job of side-stepping a head-to-head competition on power that it would surely lose.

The one detail about the Switch that still remains a mystery is its new online gaming service. Although not available at the NYC event, Nintendo says it will be launching a subscription-based gaming service, much like Xbox Live and PlayStation Plus. Online gaming has always been a huge weakness for Nintendo which has historically struggled to get very basic things like building a "friends" list right. Preliminary reports say that the Nintendo service will use your smartphone for some capabilities, like online chat. An interesting, but also very unusual solution. Although I wasn't able to test, it is the one glaring piece of the Switch puzzle that has me wary. It could work, but Nintendo's track record offers little to be hopeful about.

A weirdness worth of Nintendo

The Nintendo Switch is strange for sure, but refreshingly different than any other gaming system out there right now. For Nintendo acolytes, it's likely a welcome addition to your living room. Or the subway, or your carry-on luggage. But much like the Wii U, the Switch can't handle a huge swath of gaming's most popular thrills. Maybe don't count on playing the next Call of Duty or any other graphical powerhouse.

During its Tokyo press event, Nintendo listed tons of titles coming to the Switch, but one glaring omission were any highly anticipated titles on other platforms willing to take a chance on Nintendo's weird creation. Sure Skyrim is great, but it's going on six years old at this point. Nintendo could very well kick its library content into gear once the Switch is released, but history, unfortunately, tells us otherwise.

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